Intense Heat
by GiLaw
Summary: A sequel to Bitter Cold. Nova's had enough of Mandarin's abuse and she wants to stand up for herself. But he's not gonna make it easy. And when enough is enough, suddenly Nova finds herself being pushed to breaking point . . . Again, rated T for suicidal mentions.


**Hey guys!**

 **So yeah, if you read my latest fic, you should have a pretty good idea on how I think Nova's past was.**

 **But one review caught my attention and it asked if shortly after Bitter Cold, Nova blew up the training room when she got mad at Mandarin.**

 **And yes, she does.**

 **And then I was like "Hey, how would she react to that considering she's still trying to make herself feel useful and all that?"**

 **And then this fic idea came to mind!**

 **So enjoy (and let's pray to God this one isn't half as long as Bitter Cold! X'D)**

 **Intense Heat**

"No seriously Gibson, I don't feel cold anymore!"

"It doesn't matter what you feel Nova; what matters is that you recieve the right treatment," Gibson replied sternly. "You narrowly avoided severe hypothermia from overexposure to low temparatures and the cold hasn't helped your injuries either. Now lie down and put the blankets on you."

Nova groaned but flopped down and covered herself with those stupid heat blankets anyway.

"You know, letting someone constantly beat you up doesn't help your injuries too much either."

"I understand you feel that we haven't been paying much attention to you lately but you must realize that we have our own duties to attend to," said Gibson. His back was turned on her because he was routing around for some chemicals or something but it still annoyed her. "And you know yourself how dangerous Mandarin can be. Provoking him would be the least logical thing to do."

"Well you could at least _try_. You like experimenting, don't you?" Nova frowned.

"Nova, there are some experiments that work and some experiments that are just too risky. And this is an experiment that is too risky."

 _'Shoulda known you wouldn't understand.'_

She sighed in annoyance, resting on her side, not bothering to look at Gibson or anyone. She couldn't help feeling mad. She knew it was wrong but whole Mandarin abuse stuff was really ticking her off. Funny how something that used to terrify her out of her wits suddenly made her so _angry_! Mandarin just tried to kill her and the others were acting like this was another everyday event.

Well everyone except Sparx. He seemed to be the only one actually taking some care of her. And even that was getting on her nerves! For Shuggazoom's sake, he _carried her like a baby_ into medbay when she was perfectly capable of walking herself. She was certain she could walk!

What was a monkey supposed to do in a crisis like this?

She wanted some protection from Mandarin or at least some attention but at the same time she wanted some independence.

It was driving her nuts!

On the bright side, Mandarin had been keeping his distance since the whole bathroom incident. But knowing Mandarin, he was probably gonna wait till the right time to strike. But that probably wouldn't be too easy since Sparx hadn't let him out of his sight. It took just one step towards medbay and Sparx would have both magnets out, threatning to destroy him if he so much as looked at Nova.

Again, she appreciated his defensive ways but maybe that felt like a bit too much . . .

She could look after herself, she could fight back if she wanted to.

But she wasn't allowed to.

And again, these thoughts were driving her SO MAD!

She scrunched up her eyes and growled in frustration, shifting uncomfortably on the medbay table. The blankets on top of her felt warm. Like _really_ warm. No, they were too **_hot_** on top of her. Not bothering to think about Gibson's lectures, she sat up and threw the blankets off.

Funny . . . she still felt really hot.

Was the air heating on or something?

No, Gibson wouldn't be foolish enough to turn up the heat that hot unless it was snowing or something. And it never snowed in Shuggazoom! So this was really strange.

She lowered her eyebrows, a little confused.

Either it was just her, or those heat blankets worked a little too well.

She jumped up the med table and picked them up, feeling around them. Yeah . . . they felt pretty hot. I dunno, maybe it was just her. She was cooling down anyway. Maybe she just had the blankets on for too long or something. Whatever the reason, it probably didn't matter too much.

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of the alarm ringing throughout the Robot. A confident grin spread across her face as she thought to herself:

 _'I'm finally gonna kick some proper butt here!'_

Smirking fiercly, she kicked open the door and stomped into the command centre where the males were gathered around the screen.

"Skeleton King forces are invading the city," said Antauri. "We must set out to stop them before they destroy anything."

"Well then what are we waiting for? Let's get 'em!"

There was an awkward silence.

The five males all stared at Nova who just stood there with that grin on her face.

"What?" She lowered her eyebrows.

None of them said anything, just continued to give her those weird looks like she'd gone mad or something.

Then Mandarin spoke.

"Nova, are you sure you feel alright?"

Her grin dropped. "Y- yeah, why wouldn't I be?" she muttered.

Mandarin raised his eyebrows a little. "Well it just seems to me that your mind may not be in the best of conditions after that . . . event that occured in the bathroom a while ago," he said, trying not to smirk. "I don't think you're quite able for it, Nova. And the same goes for your body. After all if you cannot handle your training then I _dread_ to think what would happen if we were to let you out there into such a fierce fight."

"It's just Formless!"

"It's not just Formless, Nova. We never know what Skeleton King might throw at us ," Mandarin replied. "And you're clearly not able for something like this."

"Yeah I am!" Nova exclaimed.

"Now Nova, please don't test me," Mandarin said. "We don't want any more fights here. Now go back to medbay and stay there until we return."

"No!" she snapped, getting irritable.

"Don't push me, Nova! I'm telling you! Go to medbay! Now!" Mandarin was also beginning to lose his patience a little.

"Mandarin, she doesn't want to go to medbay!" Sparx butted in. "C'mon, give her a shot!"

"Don't you start too!" Mandarin demanded. "You're just as responsible for that incident from earlier as she is! Now Nova, either you're going to go to medbay or I'm going have to force you! Because you're not able for a fight!"

Normally Nova would have obeyed without a moment's hesitation but this time she wasn't backing down. "I'm not going to medbay!"

"You will if I have to drag you there myself!"

"I can fight just as good as you!"

"No you can't, you're mind's not good enough for it!"

"That's what you think!"

"That's what I _know_! I know everything about you!"

"You know nothing!"

"Nova . . ." Antauri stepped forward, giving her a glare which meant "Calm down and just do it."

Nova bit her lip, frustration and anger taking over. "Y- you lot- you never-"

Mandarin smirked and folded his arms as she tried to find the right words to say, her anger stopping her from doing so, her breath speeding up from it all. Finally, too frustrated to protest anymore, she let out a furious monkey screech and stormed into the medbay, slamming the door behind her.

It just wasn't fair!

Why wouldn't they just _LISTEN_ to her for once?!

Would it kill them to hear her opinion, hear her express herself?

The anger was boiling inside of her like a kettle, bubbling and bubbling. No, a kettle was an understatement. More like a volcano, the anger heating up inside of her, just wanting to explode out.

Funny how she thought of a volcano. That's excatly what she felt like, like a really hot volcano filled with scorching hot lava inside. Why was it that she felt so hot? She fanned herself, calming her breathing down in an attempt to cool herself down. Seriously, was this normal? Did the other guys get this hot when they got frustrated?

Maybe she should talk to the others about it?

No, they wouldn't listen.

I mean Mandarin just said in front of all of them that she was mentally unstable.

And that wasn't true!

She was just standing up for herself, trying to do her job! That wasn't mental, that was perfectly normal!

 ** _RRRRRRR-_**

Okay, she needed to calm down, she was working herself up a little too much. Maybe it wasn't the best of ideas to stand up to Mandarin while they about to go into battle. It would probably be a better idea to talk to them when the fight was over. Taking deep breaths, she turned to the medbay door and pressed her ear against it.

"We must hurry now," Mandarin was saying. "She's wasted a great deal of our time arguing over nothing! Who knows what damage the Formless must have done by now?" He didn't sound any way worried or frantic. He sounded like he was trying to convince the others she had wasted their time. And knowing Mandarin, that's probably what he was doing- getting rid of her so he could make her look bad.

"You know you could've given her at least ONE try," Sparx said irritably.

"Sparx . . . She's already wasted enough time arguing with us. Don't you start to," Mandarin replied in a warning tone. "Now-" A pause. Nova lowered her eyebrows, wondering what was it now.

"Wait!"

 _'What's he gonna do now?'_

"What if she follows us once we're gone? She's not gonna stay in that medbay for long! And what if she does stay? Skeleton King might notice we're down a member and send Formless after her! Either way, she's gonna get hurt! And we don't want that!" His tone expressed the exact opposite to what he said. He was basically saying: "If she dares to follow us, she better learn her lesson and hopefully suffer at the hands of the Formless. And if she stays, she'll be too weak to fight off those Formless. Either way, it'll be a relief to finally be rid of her."

She lowered her eyebrows again. Whatever he would say next, whatever he would do to her, she couldn't- no _wouldn't_ back down to him. If she acted like a coward, he would treat her like a coward. She was gonna stay strong.

"One of us _must_ stay behind and make sure she doesn't get into any trouble while we're gone!" said Mandarin. " _AND_ if you ask me, I think it would be best if it was either me, Antauri or Gibson!"

She couldn't help noticing the way he said that last sentence. It was like he said it really quickly to stop anyone from interrupting or butting in. And she had a pretty good idea who would try to do that . . .

"How come?" muttered Sparx.

"Well Sparx, we all know how easily distracted you can be sometimes," Mandarin sneered. "And I don't think she's in the right condition to see you right now. Besides . . . she has too much of an influence on you. We can't let that happen!"

"Why should we let you stay in the Robot with Nova?" Sparx frowned.

"Because I want to regain her trust after that little bathroom event! And she needs to realize that I'm only trying to help her. I have the strongest weapons here too so I think they would be most handy if any Formless try to attack the Robot."

"Yeah, you sure you're gonna use those weapons on _just_ Formless?" the scarlet simian asked in a suspicious tone.

"Of course! See, this is exactly what I mean by she has too much influence on you! She's turning you into a coward too!"

"Uhh, guys," Otto murmured. "Are we gonna head out to the city or . . .?"

"Yeah yeah yeah!" Sparx snapped. "How bout we let Antauri or Gibson stay in the Robot, huh?"

"No no, I'm perfectly content with staying here," Mandarin replied casually. "Now go on, you're only wasting time! Go on!"

"Mandarin I'm warning you, if you so much as lay a finger on her-"

"I won't, I promise!" Mandarin replied, almost laughing. "Now go on, go!" He sounded like he was shooing off a small child or an animal, the way he said it so urgently.

The sound of the monkeys rushing off to their tubes were heard, some rushing sounds faster than others. Next thing Nova heard the sound of them whipping up their coloured tubes . . . one, two three . . .

She waited for the fourth tube to sound . . .

She couldn't hear it . . .

A few steady footsteps . . .

 _'Just go Sparx!'_

Another few seconds . . .

And the fourth whoosing sound of the tube was finally heard. She relaxed a little but not too much because now that the coast was clear . . . She pulled out her fists, ready for whatever Mandarin was gonna throw at her. Yeah, she could hear him stomping towards the medbay and he didn't sound too happy. He was gonna let her have it. And she was gonna let her have it too.

His footsteps had stopped though she knew he was there and raised her fists, lowering her head.

And the door slammed open to reveal Mandarin's furious figure. He opened his mouth to yell abuse but she was quicker.

"Just bring it on and get it done with!" she demanded, raising her fists.

He froze, taken aback by her fierce tone and her strong pose. But it wasn't for long as he suddenly snapped.

"You don't talk to me like that! And you don't _DARE_ oppose me in front of your teammates! You think you're strong acting tough and making your hands bigger?"

She growled a little, saying nothing, keeping her fists up.

"Don't you dare ignore me! You're not helping yourself, refusing to answer me. Anyone with any sense would respond to their leader!"

She opened her mouth to respond but rememberd:

 _'He's testing me. He's playing mind games. He wants me to give in and respond. Well I'm not responding to him!'_

"Well then! You're gonna be like that? Fine!" Mandarin spat. "Let's see if you can stay that _'strong'_ in the training room! Come on!"

Nova tightened her lips but followed him anyway, keeping her fists out and clenched tight. She wanted to punch him right there on the spot but knew she couldn't. So she kept her fists to herself and made her way into the training room.

 _'Whatever happens, I can't give him the satisfaction of begging. That's what he wants me to do. He's gonna make it harder cause the others aren't around. I can't let him get to me. I gotta show him I'm stronger than him.'_

She stepped into the centre of the training room, turning her back on Mandarin. If she was gonna back down, she wasn't gonna do it face to face with him. She wasn't gonna look at him and cry because that's what he wanted her to do . . . Behind her she could hear him turning the knobs and waited for him to do his worst . . .

"You can't turn your back on me forever!" he called.

 _'I'm not gonna look at him, I'm not gonna look at him.'_

Yet she couldn't help wondering what he was gonna do. With her back turned, there was always a risk of him doing a sneak attack. No wait, it was cooling down in the room! Yeah, she could feel that breeze blowing! He was turning down the temperature on her!

Cold.

The one thing she hated most.

And they both knew it.

It was already getting colder and colder in the room and she could see her own breath. But she refused to lower her fists. She couldn't, she musn't . . .

"Cold enough for ya?" Mandarin taunted.

 _'I musn't respond, I musn't turn around. He wants me to do that.'_

The cold was getting worse and worse. She could feel her arms starting to shiver, her teeth starting to chatter, her legs starting to tremble. But she still wouldn't put her fists down and put them together to try and start a fire. But her hands were too shaky and the cold breeze- no cold _wind_ was intensifying to the point where it was blowing out any flicker she managed to start up.

And she just had to deactivate her fists and wrap her arms and tail around her shivering body. But she still refused to turn around or plead or cry despite the fact that the cold was beginning to hurt her, like little needles stabbing their way through her body. Underneath her feet she could feel the ground turning to ice, freezing her feet with it. She shifted them around to avoid getting stuck to the ground but her feet were met with the rough feel of the frozen ground. It felt like the wind around her was turning into thorns, prickling every part of her body.

"Ha! Look at you!" Mandarin laughed. "Shivering like a little Chihuaha! I thought you'd be able to handle such cold after you tried to kill yourself in that bathtub." He paused for a moment and when he spoke again, it was in a tone Nova had never heard him use before- and it one of the scariest tones she had ever heard him speak in.

"Why didn't you kill yourself straight away when you had the chance? You know yourself that's all you're good for. You think you're tough turning your back on me and giving me the silent treatment . . . when really you're just a little coward hiding under a mask, afraid to confront the fight."

She tried to bite her lip but her teeth were chattering way too hard. So she scrunched up her eyes and tried to take her mind off his taunts.

 _'Don't turn around, don't give in. He's manipulating me, he's trying to get me to back down. Just stay strong, he'll have to give in eventually.'_

"You really should have just gone ahead and done it," Mandarin continued on. "And you can't deny it either. You KNOW what I say it right, Nova. Admit it. All you do is tag along and waste time and power. I dread to think what could be happening to our teammates right now. They could be getting beat up. And all because I had to stay behind to watch you . . . Or they might have already gone away and destroyed part of the city because you wasted such valuable time arguing."

She winced at his words. To be honest, that _was_ kinda true . . .

No! She was letting him get to her! She couldn't, she was doing so well!

 _'Okay, um . . . try to focus . . . Come on, just uh . . . make the cold stop, I'm freezing!'_

"Yes . . ." Mandarin breathed. "Surrender to the truth. Know that I'm not lying. I'm always right . . ."

"N-nnnn- nooo, y- y- yooou're n-nnnn-n-noooot!"

Shoot!

She'd just done one of the few things she'd promised herself she wouldn't do: talk back! Oh boy, this was gonna get ugly now!

"So now you talk!" Mandarin burst out laughing then turned to sneering again. "I always knew you'd give in . . . What a waste of such valuable time. That's what you are- a waste, a useless witless helpless little coward! Just admit your defeat!"

"Th-the o-oth- others wwwwwi- wi-"

"Will do what?" Mandarin snapped. "You don't think they'd _help_ you do you, Nova?" He burst out laughing again. "You amuse me with your stupidity! You know that they don't care! If they did, we wouldn't be here in this training session now would we? They would have stopped me! But they all know better than you! They don't have time wasting their attention on such a pathetic little female! And who can blame them? You're lucky I go to the trouble to put up with you! But maybe if you push me, I might just have to put your cowardly ways to a stop!"

Nova winced, squeezing herself tight. She couldn't help it, those words were getting to her head again. She tried to shake her already shivering head to knock it out but it was to no avail. She couldn't help wondering if it was true.

 _'He does have a point. If they did care they would make some effort to put all of this to a stop. They **are** my teammates! They're supposed to help me . . .'_

The room was getting even colder, the coldest she had felt in her whole life. Mandarin was turning the cold up to full blast, freezing her to death. Well if he was freezing her to death, she prayed she would freeze quickly and get it over with.

As she froze, Mandarin grinned and then turned to his second method of mental torture.

Laughter.

Like his torturous words, his evil laughs had slithered through her ears and into her brain, pounding at her head like poison. The cold was still getting worse to the point where she couldn't even move but instead shiver and tremble. The laughter was getting louder and louder, more menacing and manacial and it was driving her crazy. She tried to think of something to motivate herself but the laughter was getting too overwhelming.

And the fact that this was how she was going to die! In her worst fear, the one thing she hated most!

And the others could have stopped it when they had the chance but didn't even bother.

They all thought she was a coward.

She wasn't a coward!

 ** _SHE WASN'T!_**

That anger was boiling inside of her again, rising and rising with every sound of laughter that was heard and every self depreciating thought that came to mind. She inhaled loudly through her nose and took deep breaths but the volcano was awakening inside of her. Her teeth seemed to stop chattering enough to grind together. She wasn't a coward, she wasn't gonna give up! She refused to give into that laughter, those negative thoughts, the freezing cold!

"COWARD!"

 ** _'WHAT?!'_**

That's when it happened.

The volcano inside her exploded.

The bomb went off.

And she couldn't stop it.

The intense heat inside of her was rising, rising to the point were it was actually affecting the temperature of the room, blasting away the cold and she whipped around, glaring at Mandarin whose laughter had stopped and grin had shifted into a look of horror, rays of powerful bright light blinding her and that what she was, in a blinding rage as the rays shot through the training room, so powerful they were actually bending the walls and Mandarin was scrunching up his eyes, not sure what was going on. Everything around her was getting hotter and hotter and brighter and brighter and she still couldn't see but she didn't care, she was so **_FURIOUS_** and the heat burst through the training room window, blasting Mandarin with it, sending him crashing into the wall, almost smashing through it, the walls around her flaming body crashing inwards, nearly blowing off.

She had finally turned around, panting hard, the intense head slowly cooling off, her eyes glowing with fury, failing to notice the destroyed training room around her. Her anger had taken over all her senses as she glared at Mandarin stuck motionless in the wall, his arms sparking violently.

"Don't . . . you dare . . . call me a coward . . ."

Her leader didn't respond, just stayed there impaled in the wall without budging.

"You deserve it," she growled bitterly.

"What is it?"

"Something's wrong. I sense disaster may have occured in the training room. Mandarin may not be alive . . ."

Antauri's explanation seemed to snap her back to reality. Mandarin may not be alive? _Disaster in the training room?_

Wait . . .

 _What just happened?!_

She glanced down at her hands in horror then at the ruins that surrounded her. Mandarin still hadn't moved or spoke since she . . . she . . .

 _' **What have I done?!'**_

She raced out of the training room, taking care not to trip over the broken tiles or step on the shattered shards of window which wasn't easy because she was feeling dizzy from . . . from . . . whatever that was! The others were approaching the training room and if they saw what happened, she'd most certainly be in for it. Terrified of how they'd react, she found herself spinting out of the training room and into the command centre, racing to her yellow tube where she shot up and out of the Robot, activating her jetpack and shooting off full blast.

She wasn't gonna stop. Not till she knew she was as far away from the Robot and the others as possible. She didn't care if she had to fly all day as long as she knew they were rid of her. She could feel tears coming to her eyes and wiped them quickly, trying to catch her breath.

 _What the blazes was that?!_

She wanted to glance behind her but just couldn't muster the courage to do so, afraid of what she might see. So she just lowered her head and tried to make her jetpack go somewhat faster even though she knew she was flying at full speed. She could feel the wind whipping against her face, almost stinging it but she didn't care, she just wanted to get away from it all, away from the Robot, away from her teammates, away from herself.

Breathing heavily, she braved a glance behind her. She could no longer see the Robot which was good. But she didn't want to just get away from the Robot, she wanted to get away from the civilians undearneath her as well. What if she did something to them? A few tears managed to escape and drip down her cheeks, flying off into nowhere. She still had no idea what she had done back there and that's what terrified her the most.

She had to get away from everyone.

She glanced down, observing the civilians beneath her as they whizzed by like little blurs, she was flying so fast. They probably didn't notice her. And she didn't blame them. No one ever seemed to notice her, nor did they deserve to give her any notice.

She didn't deserve it.

She didn't deserve any attention, she didn't deserve to be in the Robot, she didn't deserve to be part of the team.

There was only one thing she deserved.

She bit her lip, finally taking a moment to stop and take in her surroundings, squinting her eyes. Could she see the Robot? Not really, she could _just_ make out a dot in the distance but other than that, she wasn't really sure. Were there any civilians under her? None that she could see. She must have been flying really fast to make it all the way out here in such a short time.

She couldn't keep hovering here, someone would see her. And she couldn't let that happen. She took off again, searching for somewhere to hide. That's all she wanted to do, hide where no one would ever find her. An old apartment caught her eye. It was really old, almost abandoned with some shabby walls and broken windows, almost like one of those buildings you'd see in a zombie apocalypse or something. In fact the whole area looked pretty lonely.

Perfect.

She flew over to the apartment, searching for the highest window she could find. Through the window, she could see that the workers, civilians, whoever was in there last had cleaned out this place altogether, abandoning it, leaving it completely empty. There was no light, no heating, nothing.

Even more perfect.

She pulled out her giant fists and smashed open the window then flew in, taking care to avoid the sharp scattered smithereens undearneath her feet. The room itself was pretty gloomy with cobwebs hanging overhead and underfoot and dust floating everywhere, turning the room grey and making her sneeze. But she didn't care.

She deserved it.

She pushed the glass to one side with her foot and sat herself down against the wall, glancing outside the broken window, clutching her hunched knees, trembling a little. A large hairy spider crawled down the wall and next to her. It took one look at it before it ended up squashed flat on the ground by her giant fist. The impact was so hard, it left a dent in the ground.

Nova stared at the squashed insect resting motionless beside her, cracks surrounding it, the figure not budging. It brought her back to Mandarin and the horror of what he looked like, impaled in that wall, his arms sparking, that hideous look on his face, his still body stuck there. She quickly flicked the spider away with her toe and glanced at her hands before finally letting the tears escape through uncontrollable sobs.

 _'I can't do it! I just can't! I wanna be a warrior but I'm just not able! Mandarin's right, I am a coward! And no one cares about me! I don't deserve their attention, I just don't! I tried to show them I could be strong! But the one time I stand up and express myself and this all happens!'_

The sobbing became too much for her to handle to the point where she could just wail mindlessly, burrying her head into her knees. She wished she'd brought a stuffed animal to squeeze but even a stuffed animal deserved better than her.

 _'There's only one thing I deserve . . . and that's death.'_

Sniffing a little, she turned her attention to the glass shards in front of her and winced as they reminded her of that broken training room window . . . She shook her head quickly and focused on the broken pieces. They were all tiny, little smithereens, none of them capable of stabbing or slitting anywhere.

What about out the window?

She crawled over and peeped outside. Yeah, it looked pretty high. She was in the highest storey after all. From what she'd seen, the apartment seemed to be about ten or more storeys high.

Should she jump?

What if someone in the distance saw her and tried to catch her? Or one of her teammates was flying in that direction and saw her falling?

No, that was ridiculous! There was no way any of her teammates could possibly be out looking for _her_. They were probay all back at the Robot, trying to drag Mandarin out of the shattered wall, figuring out how in Shuggazoom's name they were going to fix the training room, cursing her existence.

Well let them curse her.

Anyway, jumping out . . . she couldn't do it.

She was too scared . . .

Maybe she could deactivate herself?

She reached behind her and tried to open her jetpack but it was just too awkward and she just couldn't reach it to open it. So she sighed and left that option, wiping her eyes a little.

That left one option and that was starvation.

One of the worst ways to go.

And probably the most deserving way possible to go.

She wondered how long it would take for her to starve?

Hopefully not long.

She sniffed again and curled up into the corner of the room.

Shuggazoom would finally be rid of her unnecessary presence.

And Mandarin would no longer have to beat her.

Maybe the afterlife would treat her better.

If she was good enough to make it to the afterlife.

She shut her eyes and turned into the corner, her face rubbing against the dusty grey walls with peeling paint. She opened her eyes slightly and picked some of it off. At least it was some form of distraction from her misery. She shut her eyes again and rested her head on the wall, feeling woozy. It was getting dark, the sun slowly beginning to make its descend down.

Soon she would be asleep. Hopefully she wouldn't have to wake up. She relaxed a little more, still dozing off, relieved that at least the city would be safe now that she was at rest . . .

"Nice hiding choice!"

She jerked awake, startled by Sparx's voice. He was standing a good few metres from her, smiling casually, a small device in his right hand.

Nova just stared at him, not sure what to feel. Mostly frustration from not being able to have some alone time and fear that if he pushed her . . .

"How did you find me?!"

He raised the device in his hand and waved it around. "There's a reason why Gibson has these things called trackers."

She continued to just stare at him, still not sure how to feel. For a moment there was a tense silence before Sparx took a step towards her. Nova noticed this and hunched up, pulling out her giant fists.

"Stay away!"

He backed away, a little bewildered. "I just wanna help you!"

"You need to get outta here, I'm gonna hurt you!" she cried, raising her fists.

"No you're not."

"Yes yes yes I am; Sparx please get away from me, I really don't wanna hurt you!" Her breath rate was rising, not hyperventilating but it was getting close as a cold sweat began to form on her forehead and run down her face.

"Please . . . just go!"

Again he just stood there perfectly still, his eyes glued to her trembling figure. The tracker in his hand fell to the ground.

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Sparx, please leave me alone!"

"Nova, if I leave you there, you're just gonna sit there till you're nothing but skin and scrap metal. Or Mandarin's gonna come along and find you! Either way, you're gonna die if you stay here!"

"Exactly!"

"Nova . . ." He stepped forward again but she jumped to her her feet and stepped in front of the broken window.

"Sparx, I swear to Shuggazoom if you come one more step near me, I'm gonna jump out!"

He stopped walking again but he didn't look too nervous. In fact he looked pretty determined.

"You know what's gonna happen if you do that?"

"I'm gonna die and then you won't have to worry about me anymore!"

"No, I'm gonna jump after you and then you're gonna end up feeling more like a damsel than you already do!"

"I'll use my jetpack!"

"I'll use my magnets!" He pulled them out to show he wasn't kidding. "And I don't wanna do that!"

She groaned and reluctantly sat back down, eyeing the red simain in front of her. He breathed out a sigh of relief and deactivated his magnets, deciding not to approach her. The apartment was silent unless if you counted Nova's shaky breathing. She still hadn't taken her eyes off of him, scared of what he was going to do, scared of what her reactions might do to him.

"You're not going anywhere, are you?" she murmured.

"Not till I see you back in the Robot, no." As if to prove it, he strolled over to the wall and sat himself against it.

Nova stared at him as if he had gone mad, suddenly feeling a little bit irritable. "Why are you doing this?"

"Huh?"

"Stop acting like this is an ordinary day Sparx!" she screamed. "I just blew up the training room and you're acting like nothing happened! I could have destroyed the Robot and . . . I killed Mandarin! I stand up to him and I end up killing him! How can you approach me after-!"

"You didn't kill him!"

"Well then either you're lying to make me feel better or he's in critical condition! Like a coma or something!" She found herself tearing up again and wiped her eyes quickly hoping he wouldn't notice. "I can't stay on the team, I'm just useless! I'm either too weak or too dangerous! Why didn't you just let me drown in that bathtub? Cause if you had, none of this would have happened!"

He lowered his eyebrows. "Why do you think I saved you?"

"Actually yes Sparx! Why _did_ you save me? I'm curious to see what it is you see in me that makes me worth saving! Go on! I wanna hear it!" she demanded.

There was a deathly silence.

The two monkeys stared at each other, raging bubblegum pink eyes staring into shining onyx ones.

Neither of them spoke nor moved.

The silence was broken by Nova's furious snivelling as she wiped her eyes again.

"See?" Her voice cracked. "You're struggling! Just admit it, Sparx! I'm a burden! You know it yourself! Now please get outta here, I'm gonna destroy the place if you keep pushing me!"

"I saved you because you're my teammate Nova!" Sparx replied. "And that's what teammates do, they look out for each other!"

"Oh really? Well then remind me not to call the others my _'teammates'_ because I didn't see them looking out for me when Mandarin was **_BEATING ME UP FOR OVER A WEEK_**!" she screamed. "He tried to kill me and they barely took any notice!" The tears were falling again and this time she couldn't stop them, nor catch her breath to yell properly. "Th- They do- theydontcare!" As she struggled to breathe properly, he stood up quickly, staring at her in concern.

"Are you hyperventilating?"

"NOOO!" She only just managed to scream it out, she was breathing so fast.

Sparx was already rushing towards her and she tried to run away from him but she was trapped between him and the wall and even if she did try to get up, her legs were too shaky to support her and he was too speedy.

 _ **"GET AWAY FROM ME!"**_

"Okay sh-sh-shh!" He grabbed her by both arms and she tried to resist but he was too strong. Next thing she found herself being cradled in his arms, her face pressed against his chest, his hands stroking her, his body rocking her back and forth, his voice shushing her as she sobbed.

"Sparx I really don't wanna hurt you!"

"I know you don't."

"But what if I-"

"I trust you."

She shuddered at this and scrunched up her eyes, burrying her head into his chest. Yet her breathing was calming down. She felt warm and it wasn't from her emotions- or at least any of her more negative ones.

 _'Why does Sparx have such a calming effect on me?'_

The thought soothed her but it also scared her. She appreciated his comforting ways but she still felt like a burden. She no longer wanted to die but at the same time-

"We should probably head back to the Robot," Sparx said softly.

She shook her head. "I'm not going back!"

"You're gonna have to eventually," he replied.

She shook her head again. "No I can't! I mean what if that thing happens again? I can't stand up for myself without destroying everything! What will the others say?"

"We're gonna help you Nova!"

 _"'We're?'"_

He smiled a little and pulled out a magnet, striking the device he'd dropped, causing it to float upwards and towards the two monkeys. He caught it in one hand and held it in front of her face for her to see.

"See? They're all looking for you."

She frowned. "How do I know that's not a fake and that you didn't just build it to show me all those signals and stuff?

"How else do you think I would have found you with this one?" Sparx smiled, chuckling a little. "Also me building a tracker? Not my forte."

She couldn't help but giggle a little. "So they're all looking for me?"

"Well all of them except Mandarin. He's still recovering," said Sparx. "Probably won't be up for a few days. Though you gotta admit he had it coming."

Normally Nova would have laughed at this comment. But it instead brought her back to the memories of him impaled in that wall while she stood there in the almost destroyed training room . . . She cringed at the thought and huddled up to Sparx who realized his mistake and gave her a squeeze.

"It's not as bad as you think."

"I'm not going back!"

"You have to!"

"No I really don't wanna go!"

"Nova, I promise you, it's gonna be alright!"

"No Sparx-" She tried to free herself from his grip but he tightened it on her so she couldn't move. "I can't even trust my own feelings anymore let alone trust my teammates!"

"I trust you!"

"Well you shouldn't!" She pushed against him again but he was holding on tight.

"But I do and there's no changing it!"

"Why?"

"Because I know that whatever happened back there it was because Mandarin pushed you too far! And after that, I don't think he'll be beating you for quite a long time! It wasn't as bad as you think it was!" He tilted her chin with a finger forcing her to look at him.

"We can fix this Nova. And we're gonna fix it."

She sniffed again, a few more tears dripping down. "I'm scared . . ."

"Shhh . . . I know . . ." He traced her cheek with his thumb, drying them away. "Just relax, alright?"

She nodded shakily and flopped onto his chest. Not even out of love or giving in . . . it was because she was just exhausted. Could such intense heat make you fee thisl tired? That along with super early mornings and all too rough "training" experiences.

The sun was going down, the sky darkening as its light faded . . .

She blinked and tried to keep awake, afraid that if she fell asleep he'd surely take advantage and bring her back to the Robot. And she really didn't want to go . . .

"Hey." Sparx gave her another little squeeze. "I'm not stopping you from going to sleep."

"Don't take me back," she moaned, yawning a little.

"I won't."

"Seriously Sparx, I really don't wanna go."

"I won't. Just get yourself some sleep, you nee- _deserve_ it."

The sun was almost down completely.

She lowered her eyebrows a little but just felt too tired to protest or even think about it. She could feel her body getting heavier, her eyes slipping shut. She decided that it wasn't worth fighting against and let the fatigue overtake her, dozing off in Sparx's arms.

He waited. She didn't stir. She didn't try to move or open her eyes again. Within a few seconds she had blacked out completely.

The sun had set.

He slowly pulled out his transmitter. She didn't notice the robotic sounds, just lay there naive to her surroundings. So he took a deep breath and muttered quietly:

"Hey guys, I've found her . . ."

The night was black, the moon hiding behind the clouds.

Nova lay there sound asleep, unaware of what was going on around her. She could hear voices though but it must have been a dream, something her exhausted mind was corrupting up as she heard her own teammates talking over her . . .

"What happened?"

"She's okay. She's just tired, that's all."

"Sparx, she may not be alright. I will have to run some tests on her."

"She's fine Gibson. I talked to her. She's just really tired, she'll be fine once she gets some sleep."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, she's fine. How's the training room?"

"It's fine. Otto's working on it. It should be fixed within a couple of days. Fortunately the damage wasn't as severe as we feared."

"Okay, that's good . . . Right, let's get her inside . . ."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. There was no way. They _couldn't_ be talking about her, it was all just a dream. She shifted into a more comfortable position, feeling warm, enjoying the sleep. She smiled a little, knowing that this would be her first proper sleep in in a long time. So she relaxed and nuzzled into the fur against her face, running her fingers through it.

She felt warm.

And it was a nice warm.

She rubbbed her fingers through that fur again . . . It felt so soft . . .

Wait a sec.

A little _too_ soft.

She opened her eyes and was met with the face of one of her stuffed animals. Glancing around her, she realized there were quite a few stuffed animals around her. And she was covered in blankets!

Nova sat up and found herself sitting in her own bed, stuffed animals scattered around her. But the way they were scattered. In fact, "scattered" wasn't the word, they were all laid around her with care, like they were expecting her.

She sighed a little and flopped back down.

 _'Shoulda known you'd take me back eventually.'_

So that dream wasn't a dream.

A small smile spread across her face. Surprisingly she didn't feel as mad or as fearful as she'd expected. In fact, she felt pretty happy!

If that dream wasn't a dream it meant that they did care for her and they were looking out for her.

They trusted her in the Robot.

And Mandarin was recovering too. Yeah, let him recover. Like Sparx said, after that he'd be sure to give her some space.

So maybe everything really was gonna be okay.

Her smile grew a little wider as she nuzzled into one of her soft toys and dozed back off to sleep, feeling pleasantly warm and very comfortable.

It was her first sleep in in a while so she might as well enjoy it.

And enjoy all the soft cuddly animals and all that.

Cause this was the last time she was gonna give in to anything that came face to her.

 **God dammit, I hoped this one wouldn't be as long as Bitter Cold!**

 **I wish Spova was getting more love these days, like as much demand as they did back then!**

 **Anyway, I hope you liked it. I have mixed feelings about the ending so reviews would be great!**

 **See ya! ;D**


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